Given the amount of debt consumers carry during their lifetime, it comes as no surprise that for many people this debt will remain unpaid after death. What happens to that debt when the person who was originally responsible for the debt passes away?
Ultimately, how that debt is handled depends largely on the type of debt owed. After someone dies, anything that person owned at the time of his or her death and anything he or she owed is all a part of the deceased individual’s estate. Essentially everyone has some type of debt when they die, even if it is just payment for funeral and last medical expenses. All this debt will need to be handled in the person’s estate by the personal representative, either appointed in a Last Will and Testament or appointed by the probate court.